Although Miele and Bosch historically dominate premium dishwashers, KitchenAid has quietly built a competitive dishwasher.
The KDTM704 is one of their best and most expensive dishwashers at $1,399. At that price, this KitchenAid competes with the new CrystalDry Bosch dishwasher.
It is also in the price range of Miele's best selling dishwasher, the Futura Crystal, at $1,599.
But when I first looked at this dishwasher, I noticed something odd. I wasn't expecting to see it on a $1,399 dishwasher.
In this article, you'll learn the new washing, drying, and rack features of the KDTM704, their reliability, and a brief comparison against Bosch and Miele.
In the end, you will see perhaps our oddest recommendation to what you should consider between these three dishwashers.
Let's get started.
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In terms of reliability, KitchenAid has become way more reliable with a 13% repair rate in the first year. It's very good for a premium dishwasher and almost statistically similar to Bosch, which is only 1.5% better.
Hopefully, the trend continues with the newer models, because they are different.
Dishwasher Reliability for 2020
| Service QTY | Shipped QTY | Service Ratio | |
| Asko | 103 | 190 | 54.21% |
| Jenn-Air | 188 | 493 | 38.13% |
| Bosch Benchmark | 25 | 70 | 35.71% |
| Fisher & Paykel | 56 | 193 | 29.02% |
| Miele | 185 | 903 | 20.49% |
| Maytag | 2 | 10 | 20.00% |
| Gaggenau | 16 | 104 | 15.38% |
| Thermador | 126 | 872 | 14.45% |
| KitchenAid | 90 | 688 | 13.08% |
| Café Appliances | 3 | 25 | 12.00% |
| Bosch | 398 | 3573 | 11.14% |
| Samsung | 134 | 1297 | 10.33% |
| LG | 5 | 81 | 6.17% |
| Cove | 2 | 44 | 4.55% |
| Ge Appliances | 1 | 37 | 2.70% |
| Whirlpool | 38 | 1471 | 2.58% |
| Grand Total | 1377 | 10166 | 13.55% |
If we look inside, you see a new third rack designed to accommodate more items. Every company has a third rack these days, but only for silverware.
The top rack is adjustable as well, so it's a pretty flexible dishwasher.
The wash now sprays from 4 areas. One at the top and under the racks, plus the third rack, now has wash sprays.
This year KitchenAid added a second filter for better water filtration. More filters are for cleaner water and, therefore, dishes.
The filtering adds a bit of noise, so the DB level increases from 39 on the lesser expensive KitchenAid's to 44 DB.
Forty-four decibels is still the minimum for quiet, but you can buy quieter dishwashers at the price level.
The KitchenAid KDTM704KPS dishwasher has pro drying. It uses an element to heat, plus a fan to pull outside drier air, so it attracts the hotter moist air of the dishwasher and dissipates it as water.
Overall, KitchenAid has improved this dishwasher versus last year. The racks, wash, and dry have all been improved.
Let's look at how the KitchenAid stacks against other dishwasher manufacturers in terms of features at $1399.
It has comparable cycles and features to Bosch and Miele.
Bosch does have AutoAir, so the door pops open automatically to speed drying at the end of the cycle.
They also have their CrystalDry. It uses a volcanic element called zeolite to absorb moisture and emit heat. I thought it was a gimmick at first. Then we tested it, and the dishes were dry.
Miele doesn't have a dishwasher at $1,399.
Their better dishwashers have the best rack flexibility and configurations to fit any dish starting at $1,599.
KitchenAid's Biggest Competitor is...KitchenAid?
However, KitchenAids biggest competitor is ironically KitchenAid itself.
I looked at the lower model, the KitchenAid 600 series KDTM604KPS, and the KDTM704KPS together.
Their 600 series has all the features of this model at $899-999.
KitchenAid 700 Series Dishwasher Controls
The 700 series dishwasher adds ball bearing racks, so they glide out even laden with tons of plates and dishes. It also adds an LED light.
Ball-bearing racks are worth considering. Bosch has them on their better dishwashers at a $150 premium.
That's fair, but $500 is a bit much for just this feature.
At $1,399, probably not.
The improvements are useful, but you only have to pay $899-999 for the washing, drying, and racks of this series without the glide-out racks.
Additionally, Bosch may have a better dishwasher for $150 less or $200 more for the Miele.
However, if the dishwasher drops to $999/1249 on a promotion like Black Friday, it is certainly worth considering and would probably be among the best dishwashers.
Additional Resources
Get the Yale Dishwasher Buying Guide with features, specs, and inside tips to all the brands. Over 820,000 people have read and trusted a Yale Guide.
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